Review

Review Date: 25-December-11
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Index cards. That's what the first act of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy made me think of. Dozens of index cards covering a wall, describing scenes and characters that ought to be linked, each tattered and pin-poked as the result of frequent shuffling. This adaptation of John le Carré's 1974 novel is dense with backstories and backstabbing, doled out in a shadowy way which suits both the characters' calling as spies and the thought of the Iron Curtain. The movie opens with the apparent murder of a British agent (Mark Strong) in Soviet-run Hungary, followed by a dry yet dizzying sequence of events both past and present. There's the forced retirement of phlegmatic veteran agent George Smiley (Gary Oldman) and his supervisor (John Hurt); a short moment to contemplate the sadness of men becoming obsolete; then Smiley's recall to service to root out a mole in the inner sanctum of British intelligence, along with the list of suspects and pieces to start solving the puzzle.

While the opening asserts that the film is meatier than your average fare, it fails to establish a crucial connection with, or understanding of, the characters. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief during the middle act's prolonged, linear accounts of Smiley's right-hand man (Benedict Cumberbatch) and a grunt agent in Istanbul (Tom Hardy). Seeing these men at work navigating tense situations accords them a personality which their elders lack. Smiley's professional skill emerges in the final part when he begins to tighten the net, yet the denouement is no place for fleshing out a protagonist. (Being naturally cloaked, he could have come across as boring rather than phlegmatic with a lesser actor than Oldman in his shoes.) Oddly, the most intriguing characters never appear on screen, namely Smiley's unfaithful wife, who is pivotal to the plot as well as his inner self, and the Soviet master spy called "Karla," who once shared a brief but important encounter with Smiley. Their impact on the movie far outweighs that of any of the suspects, so that the end of the mystery doesn't pack a lot of punch. Indeed, if it weren't for the epilogue in which Smiley regains what gives his life meaning, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy might seem like nothing more than shadows chasing shadows.

Copyright © 2011 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.